CHICAGO and SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 3,
2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Grubhub Inc. (NYSE: GRUB), the
nation's leading online and mobile food ordering company, and Yelp
Inc. (NYSE: YELP), the leader in connecting people with great local
businesses, today announced a long-term partnership designed to
capitalize on each company's unique assets and propel online
takeout and delivery. As part of the agreement, Grubhub will
acquire Yelp's Eat24 business and Yelp will integrate online
ordering from all Grubhub restaurants onto its extensive local
goods and services platform.
"Grubhub and Yelp, market leaders in their respective fields,
have a shared mission of connecting consumers to local businesses.
With such complementary goals and strengths, Jeremy and I are
excited to form a partnership that will allow each company to focus
on its respective expertise, while working together to expand local
e-commerce for diners and restaurants," said Matt Maloney, Grubhub's founder and chief
executive officer. "Adding Eat24's large diner base and thousands
of restaurants to our platform will accelerate Grubhub's mission to
become the most comprehensive marketplace connecting takeout diners
and restaurants. The long-term agreement ensures that Grubhub also
has access to Yelp's enormous user base and clear content
leadership to help drive more diners to our restaurants."
"Bringing Grubhub onto the Yelp Platform through this long-term
partnership will be a win for everyone. Consumers get a
high-quality end-to-end experience with a wider selection of
restaurants and better delivery options. Restaurant partners
receive increased online exposure and the opportunity for increased
order volume, as well as expanded delivery support. Yelp and
Grubhub benefit from greater scale and sharper operating focus,"
said Jeremy Stoppelman, Yelp's
co-founder and chief executive officer. "We expect Grubhub's
acquisition of Eat24 to create significant value for our consumers,
restaurant partners and stockholders. The Eat24 team deserves
credit for the transformational impact they've had as part of Yelp,
and I'm pleased that we will continue to pursue this huge market
opportunity in partnership with Grubhub."
The acquisition will benefit diners, restaurants, Grubhub and
Yelp:
- Diners: Together, Grubhub and Eat24 will form the
largest network of restaurants offering online and mobile food
ordering in the United States.
Diners will have the ability to discover and order from
approximately 75,000 great local restaurants through either
Grubhub's or Yelp's easy-to-use interface and take advantage of the
industry's lowest diner fees.
- Restaurants: Connecting Grubhub's unmatched restaurant
network and efficient delivery infrastructure to Yelp's large
purchase-oriented audience will give Grubhub's restaurant partners
access to new potential diners and the opportunity for increased
orders. Extending Eat24's restaurants to Grubhub's sizable diner
network will help drive new diners and incremental revenue to Eat24
restaurant partners.
- Grubhub: The combination of Eat24's much-loved brand and
significant reach will enable Grubhub to address more diners and
drive more volume in all markets.
- Yelp: The partnership adds tens of thousands of
order-ready restaurants to the Yelp Platform and increases the
availability of food delivery via Yelp, which will drive usage and
transaction velocity in Yelp's most highly-trafficked
category.
The long-term partnership agreement between Grubhub and Yelp has
an initial term of five years, commencing upon the closing of
Grubhub's acquisition of Eat24. Additionally, Grubhub has entered
into a definitive agreement to acquire Eat24 for $287.5 million in cash, subject to standard
closing conditions, including the expiration of U.S. antitrust
waiting periods. Grubhub's acquisition of Eat24 is expected to be
funded through a combination of cash on hand and debt.
Grubhub and Yelp will discuss the partnership and acquisition of
Eat24 on their earnings calls today, at 3:30
p.m. Central Time / 1:30 p.m. Pacific
Time and 4:30 p.m. Central
Time / 2:30 p.m. Pacific Time,
respectively. A live webcast of the conference calls will be
available at https://investors.grubhub.com and www.yelp-ir.com.
In connection with the acquisition of Eat24, Kirkland & Ells
LLP is acting as legal advisor to Grubhub and Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP is acting
as legal advisor to Yelp.
About Grubhub
Grubhub (NYSE: GRUB) is the nation's
leading online and mobile takeout food-ordering marketplace with
the most comprehensive network of restaurant partners and largest
active diner base. Dedicated to moving eating forward and
connecting diners with the food they love from their favorite local
restaurants, the company's platforms and services strive to elevate
food ordering through innovative restaurant technology, easy-to-use
platforms and an improved delivery experience. Grubhub is proud to
work with more than 55,000 restaurant partners in over 1,200 U.S.
cities and London. The Grubhub
portfolio of brands includes Grubhub, Seamless, AllMenus and
MenuPages.
About Yelp
Yelp Inc. (NYSE: YELP) connects people with
great local businesses. Yelp was founded in San Francisco in July
2004. Since then, Yelp has taken root in major metros in
more than 30 countries. Approximately 28 million unique devices
accessed Yelp via the Yelp app, approximately 83 million unique
visitors visited Yelp via desktop computer and approximately 74
million unique visitors visited Yelp via mobile website on a
monthly average basis during the second quarter of 2017. By the end
of the same quarter, Yelpers had written approximately 135 million
rich, local reviews, making Yelp the leading local guide for real
word-of-mouth on everything from boutiques and mechanics to
restaurants and dentists.
Use of Forward Looking Statements
This press release
contains forward-looking statements regarding Grubhub and Yelp
management's future expectations, beliefs, intentions, goals,
strategies, plans and prospects regarding Grubhub's acquisition of
Eat24 and the long-term partnership between Grubhub and Yelp, as
well as the potential impact of the acquisition and partnership on
each company's financial results, business, consumers and
restaurant partners, and the expected means of funding the
acquisition. Such statements constitute "forward-looking"
statements, which are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the
U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results,
performance or achievements to differ materially from any future
results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the
forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include,
but are not limited to, with respect to Grubhub, the matters set
forth in the filings that Grubhub makes with the Securities and
Exchange Commission from time to time, including those set forth in
the section entitled "Risk Factors" in Grubhub's Annual Report on
Form 10-K filed on Feb. 28, 2017,
which is on file with the SEC and are available on the Investor
Relations section of Grubhub's website at
http://investors.grubhub.com/ and, with respect to Yelp, the
matters set forth in the filings that Yelp makes with the SEC from
time to time, including those set forth under the captions "Risk
Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial
Condition and Results of Operations" in Yelp's most recent Annual
Report on Form 10-K or Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q at
http://www.yelp-ir.com or the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Please
also note that forward-looking statements represent management's
beliefs and assumptions only as of the date of this press release.
Except as required by law, Grubhub and Yelp assume no obligation to
publicly update these forward-looking statements, or to update the
reasons actual results could differ materially from those
anticipated in the forward-looking statements, even if new
information becomes available in the future.
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SOURCE Grubhub Inc.; Yelp Inc.